


becoming mr sugden

by wafflesofdoom



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Married Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 09:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10682505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafflesofdoom/pseuds/wafflesofdoom
Summary: three times aaron was accidentally called mr sugden, and one time he wasn't.





	becoming mr sugden

**i. (the first time)**

The first time someone accidentally calls him Mr Sugden, it throws Aaron. Sure, he’d heard Robert call him Mr Sugden a hundred times, in so way different ways - in that low, sultry, come to bed voice of his, in soft whispers over breakfast in the morning, but it sounded so different coming from the voice of a nurse at Hotten General.

“Mr Sugden? Your husband is finished up with the doctor,” she said, offering him a kindly smile.

Aaron’s too worked up to correct her, too worried about Robert to even really register that his name wasn’t Sugden. “Is he alright?” he asked, following her down the busy hallway.

He’d gotten a phonecall from the hospital to tell him Robert had been involved in a car accident, and he didn’t remember much more after that. Aaron had just grabbed his car keys and _gone_ , driving over the speed limit the entire way from Emmerdale to Hotten.

He hadn’t thought much of not hearing from Robert for a few hours, knowing his husband was prone to spending hours schmoozing new clients during their initial meeting - Aaron had figured Robert would text when he could, so to get a phonecall from Hotten General to say he was hurt, he hadn’t exactly been prepared.

“He’s fine, just a bit shaken up I think,” she said. “Just a few cuts and bruises.”

Aaron let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding as he’d sat, waiting to find how how Robert was. He was okay, he was fine - Robert was _fine_. He followed the nurse into the ward, Robert sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, his shirt sleeves rolled up and a gash on his forehead.

“Robert.” Aaron practically breathed his name, studying his face carefully, counting every new scratch and bruise. A cut across his nose, a bruise on the underside of his jaw, a lengthy gash on his forehead.

His self confidence would take a beating, until they healed.

“I’m okay.” Robert reassured, reaching out to squeeze Aaron’s hand, his grip tight. “A learner driver took the corner too fast, slammed into me. I’m fine, I swear - just a few cuts and bruises.”

“And a sprained wrist,” another nurse piped up, holding a clipboard close to her chest.

Aaron looked at Robert’s left hand, his wrist strapped up tightly in a support. “It’s nothing major, at least?” he said, an almost hopeful tone to his voice.

“Nothing serious.” Robert confirmed, still looking a little shaken. “I can’t say the same for my car though, the driver door is mangled.”

“As long as you’re okay,” Aaron murmured, leaning in to press a kiss to the top of Robert’s head, breathing in the familiar scent of his shampoo, the lingering scent of his cologne.

He hated to ever feel as though he was going to lose Robert, lose this, lose _them_.

“Mr Sugden?”

“Yeah?” Aaron and Robert said in unison, the two of them looking at each other in shock as the nurse laughed. `

“The Mr Sugden who was in the car accident,” she teased, paperwork in hand. “Sign here, and you’re free to go.”

Robert shakily took the pen in hand, scrawling his signature across the bottom of the discharge papers, giving the nurse a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he said, picking up his jacket with his good hand.

“Follow up with your GP about your hand in a week or two, but you’ll be absolutely fine, Mr Sugden.”

“She means me,” Robert teased as he stood up, letting Aaron loop an arm tightly around his waist. Aaron was grateful for it, he was - he knew Robert was perfectly capable of walking on his own, but he wanted to hold him close, reassure himself that his husband was perfectly okay.

He was still able to be a snarky bastard, so of course he was okay.

“I was worried about ya, I didn’t think to correct her.” Aaron rolled his eyes, directing Robert out into the hospital carpark, not letting go of his waist for a single second, a finger tucked tightly into one of Robert’s belt loops.

Robert smiled, the action almost looking out of place on his bruised and bloody face. “I liked it,” he said, grinning as though he’d won the lottery. “I _really_ liked it.”

 _So did I,_ Aaron thought as he bundled his husband into the car, smiling slightly as he did so.

He’d **really** liked it.

 

 

 

 

 

**ii. (the business dinner)**

“Mr and Mr Sugden, pleasure to meet you,” one of Home James’ new clients greeted, a poised smile on the woman’s face as she shook their hands, offering them both a glass of champagne.

“Oh, it’s -“

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Aaron interrupted, a grin on his face as he felt Robert stiffen slightly beside him, wondering why he’d stopped Robert from correcting the woman on their names. “I’m Aaron, Robert’s husband.”

He’d gotten better at the whole schmoozing thing, in the years since they’d been married. Home James had taken off into the stratosphere, and Robert always seemed to have more and more of these business dinners to go to.

All of which involved a plus one, which meant a few new suits for Aaron, and a crash course in how you’re supposed to eat when you’ve been given about fifty different pieces of cutlery.

_(“Outside in, Aaron,” Robert said, frustrated as he watched Aaron grab the closest fork to him, not bothering to check if it was the right one._

_Aaron glared at his husband. “One more word, Robert, and this fork is going straight up your ass.”)_

“Mr Sugden, it’s great to finally meet your husband’s better half,” the woman continued. “I’m Georgina, I run the local businesses association.”

Robert seemed to have finally snapped back to reality, gliding back into the conversation with ease. “Oh, he’s certainly my better half. Aaron actually owns a business too, a scrapyard in Emmerdale.”

Aaron tuned out of the conversation for the most part, nodding and laughing when necessary. Before long, they were sitting down at one of the tables, Aaron spotting the name cards before Robert did.

_Mr Aaron Sugden._

“Don’t even know your husbands name, eh?” Aaron joked, pointing at the neatly printed card.

Robert rolled his eyes in response, knocking back the last of his glass of champagne. “I told them at least four times that my plus one was called Aaron Dingle - honestly, does anyone in this ridiculous association listen, or are they all too far up their own self important arses to take note of what the _actual_ business owners say?”

Aaron snorted, still finding Robert’s hatred of the Hotten Business Owners Association (not abbreviated, because they would take away from the apparent importance of what they did, according to Robert) hilarious, even after years of listening to his husband rant about them.

Robert quietened as the speeches began, and Aaron found his gaze drawn to the name card, tracing the letters with his finger.

_Aaron Sugden._

It didn’t sound half bad, did it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

**iii. (the almost disastrous time)**

“Are you serious?”

Aaron winced as Robert berated the man at the check in desk, clearly furious. They were due to go on a long weekend abroad to Madrid, but as they were checking in, they’d encountered a problem.

Aaron was down on the flight booking as Aaron Sugden, not Aaron Dingle.

“What kind of completely inept travel company are you that you manage to fuck up my booking? I was very clear about the names on both our passports, this is not my mistake!”

“Sir, the name we have down on the flight is Aaron Sugden.”

“That’s not his name!” Robert slammed Aaron’s passport down on the counter, jabbing at the name. “Aaron Dingle, see? It’s not my problem if your staff can’t _read_.”

Aaron rolled his eyes, deciding to step in before his husband got them kicked off the flight. He really needed this holiday, and the angrier Robert got, the angrier the man at the check in desk was getting.

He had images of the two of them watching their flight take off without them on it, and after weeks of dealing with Liv’s a-level stress, he was going on this holiday no matter _what_.

“How much is it to change the name on the flight?” Aaron asked, nudging his passport away from Robert’s furiously tapping fingers. Robert was not the kind of person who dealt well with customer service fuck ups, they’d come to an unspoken agreement years previously that when they needed someone to get angry and get something sorted, that was Robert’s forte.

Aaron was starting to think Robert’s favourite hobby was screaming down the phone to their internet provider when they’d been overcharged, yet again.

“One hundred pounds.”

“Fine,” Aaron rooted in his pocket for his wallet, sliding his debit card across the counter. “Change it, please.”

“Aaron, this is not our mistake!”

“Yeah, and I want to go on this holiday, Robert, so I’m going to pay the hundred pounds and have the name changed,” Aaron rolled his eyes, putting his pin-number in, the guy at the check in desk printing him a new, correct boarding pass to match his passport.

Robert was fuming as they walked away, Aaron poking him in the stomach, grinning as he attempted to cheer up him. “Maybe I should just change my name to Sugden, eh? Solve all these problems.”

Robert didn’t laugh, stepping onto the escalator with a furious expression on his face. “Yeah, or maybe their staff could learn to _read_. Just because we’re married, doesn’t mean we share the same bloody surname, what is this, 1845?”

Aaron let Robert rant, knowing he’d calm down once he got it all out of his system.

He’d never thought about changing his name, not even after they’d first gotten married, all those years previous - but seeing Aaron Sugden written down in black and white on a boarding pass, it had felt strangely right.

He was a Dingle at heart, of course, but something about sharing a name with his husband, Aaron liked the idea of it.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Aaron grinned at Robert. “How about we get drunk and forget this ever happened, eh?”

Robert’s furious expression melted away, and he returned the smile, his happier demeanour suiting his holiday ready look more, sunglasses tucked in the front of his pristine white shirt, tan trousers showing off the length of his legs, weekend bag in hand.

God, Aaron loved him. Four years of marriage on, and Aaron loved him more than he had on that brilliant February day when they’d gotten married in a whirlwind, desperate and in love and _wanting_.

Robert beamed. “Lets - _Mr Sugden_.”

 

 

 

 

 

**iv. (the one time it wasn’t by accident.)**

Aaron’s thirty now. He’s finally caught up with Robert, celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary and his new decade all in a matter of weeks. It was April now, the sun starting to shine more, bringing life back to the Yorkshire countryside after a long, cold, _wet_ winter.

Aaron set a steaming mug of coffee down in front of his sleepy husband, pressing a kiss to his messy blonde hair. “Happy birthday,” he said softly, jerking his head toward the small pile of neatly wrapped presents on their kitchen table.

Robert gave him a grateful smile, taking a sip of his coffee before he spoke. “I told you, I’ve decided to stop celebrating my birthdays. Thirty five was okay, but anything else is just me getting old and decrepit.”

Aaron snorted. “You’re so dramatic.”

And he was, dramatic that is.

Time was being good to Robert. You’d hardly know he was in his mid-thirties, his dedication to his ridiculous skincare routine clearly working. Aaron couldn’t quite believe this was the seventh birthday he was celebrating with Robert (though, he had to question if Robert’s thirtieth really counted as celebration at all, seeing as Aaron had only realised the date with fifteen minutes left of the 22nd, rushing to see Robert, all apologies and promises of doing better.

(He’d done better, over the years. Aaron had gotten good at spoiling his husband, whether it was weekends away or gifts, and he was always happy to go to ridiculous lengths to make Robert’s birthdays good ones, seeing as Robert always seemed to go the times further when January 5th came around.)

“You love it,” Robert grinned, looking all sleep soft and unfairly gorgeous, considering he’d rolled out of bed barely ten minutes previously.

Aaron nudged Robert’s thigh with his foot, pointing to a neatly wrapped envelope. Chas had helped him with that one, Aaron giving up halfway through trying to wrap the thick brown envelope for the third time.

The table was full of presents, a few he knew were definitely from Liv, having arrived in the post from London a few days previously, a few from Vic, and Andy, and Chas - a few from himself.

This was the important one, though.

Robert raised an eyebrow, but set his coffee mug down, carefully opening the present. He’d always been the kind to un-peel the sellotape, and unwrap the paper so neatly you’d swear he planned to use it again.

It set Aaron’s nerves on edge to watch him do it, eager for his husband to open the official looking envelope. After an absolute _age_ , Robert had finally opened it, and Aaron watched, trying to gauge his reaction as he read what was inside.

Robert was silent for a few minutes before he looked up, his blue eyes glassy with tears. “Aaron, I - what?”

Aaron looked at the deed poll in Robert’s hands, the official document that declared a name change from _Aaron Dingle_ , to _Aaron Sugden_. “Happy birthday,” he grinned, realisation dawning on Robert.

“Why’ve you changed your name, Aaron?” Robert asked, tracing the name Sugden with his index finger, a look of absolute wonder on his face.

For a million reasons.

To share a name with husband, share a name with the man he had built a life with.

Because he liked how it sounded, liked the way Aaron Sugden rolled off his tongue, as though it was always meant to be his name, anyway, fitting better than Livsey ever had.

Because he was always a Dingle, no matter what name was on his passport.

Because there was only a handful of Sugden’s left in the village, and even fewer who would be able to carry the name on, Jack Sugden the only boy in the next generation of Sugden’s, the only boy who wasn’t a Barton, at least.

Because Aaron had wanted to do it.

“Because I love you.” Aaron said simply. “I love you, and I want us to be a family.”

“We are a family, Aaron, even without having the same name.” Robert shook his head, clearly thrown by Aaron’s decision.

“I know.” Aaron said, his voice soft as he reached across the table, taking Robert’s hand in his own, brushing his thumb over the well worn wedding ring on Robert’s finger. They’d been a family from the moment they’d decided to give their relationship a proper go, names be damned. “Can’t I want to be a Sugden, though?”

Robert blinked back furious tears, overwhelmed by the piece of paper he held in his hand, the official declaration that Aaron was a Sugden now, by marriage, by name, by _choice_.

“I love you, Mr Sugden.” Robert managed to blurt out, wiping at the tears that were rolling down his cheeks, a bright smile on his face as the news began to sink in.

Aaron grinned, leaning across the table to press a kiss to Robert’s tear stained cheek, his lips, pouring every feeling he’d yet to find the words to describe into the embrace, even now, five years from from their wedding day.

Aaron pulled back slightly, his heart swelling with love for the man in front of him, enjoying the smile Robert now seemed to be unable to wipe from his face. He echoed Robert’s words, thumb still pressed against Robert’s wedding ring, the reminder that they’d made it through it all together. “And I love you, Mr Sugden.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i just really like how aaron sugden sounds and couldn't help myself! i'm capseycartwright over on tumblr, if you fancy a chat!


End file.
